It is often desirable to install a device having an inner cylindrical wall on a receiving element, such as a bearing on a shaft, with the cylindrical wall having an inner diameter substantially the same as the outer diameter of the shaft. Typically, this is accomplished by heating the device so that the area of the inner cylindrical wall expands and thereafter placing the device on the receiving element where it contracts. One method to heat the inner cylindrical wall of the device is to hang the device on a conducting bar so that one portion of the inner cylindrical wall rests on the conducting bar and the remaining portion is spaced away. A heat source generates and conducts heat through the conducting bar which conducts the heat through the inner cylindrical wall of the device. There are problems with this, however. Because part of the inner cylindrical wall rests on the bar and the remaining portion is spaced away from the bar, the conducting bar does not conduct heat evenly to the inner cylindrical wall and thus the area in the inner cylindrical wall does not expand uniformly. As a result, the shape of the inner cylindrical wall may become distorted resulting in awkward installation.
Additionally, the device must be constantly rotated to assure that the entire inner cylindrical wall is heated, thus requiring the operator's constant attention.
Additionally, it takes a considerable amount of time and energy to conduct the heat from the heat source to the conducting bar and then to conduct the heat from the conducting bar to the inner cylindrical wall of the device.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.